6 Fun & Easy Outdoor Fine Motor Activities to Try With Your Child

Looking for fun ways to work on fine motor skills outside with your child? You are in the right place! 

Today we’re sharing with you some of our favorite outdoor activities that address fine motor skills (and more) for school-age children. These activities are already kid-tested at our outdoor occupational therapy practice in the Bay Area and are a hit with kiddos. (Even ones that normally don’t want to work on anything related to fine motor skills!).

A small pause before we zoom in on fine motor skills. These are skills for coordinating and using the hands. And these skills don’t happen in isolation from the rest of your child’s body or experience of the world. Fine motor skills are related to other areas like gross motor skills, core strength, attention, and sensory processing¹  ².

In everyday language, this means if your child is having trouble with fine motor skills, you also need to look beyond just what’s happening at their fingers using a whole body approach. 

At Bearfoot OT, we figure out what piece(s) of a kid’s fine motor development needs support, and then help kiddos to strengthen those areas so they can successfully work with their hands. That’s why you’ll see many of these activities including sensory or gross motor pieces in addition to fine motor skills.

Fine Motor Skills and Simple Outdoor Activities 

Before we give you the activity ideas, let’s do a super quick review of fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills refer to things we do with our hands and fingers - like writing, buttoning, zipping, cutting, putting beads on a string, using a fork, and so on!

But there are a LOT of components under the big ol’ umbrella of fine motor skills including:

• Hand strength — There are little muscles in the hands that need to be strong enough to pinch and grasp.  

• Palmar arches — 3 arches to give the hand the right shape for fine motor tasks. 

• Thumb opposition — The skill of moving the thumb to the right position to the other fingers or an object.

• In-hand manipulation —How we move items inside the hand. Think about bringing a coin from the palm to the fingertips or using the fingers to flip and pencil from tip to eraser. 

• Grasping — Matching the strength and shape of the hand to the activity. For instance, how you pick up an egg is very different from how you hold a bat. 

Here’s the thing about practicing fine motor skills. It takes repetition to build muscles and coordination. That practice can either be tedious and frustrating — or fun. And of course, we suggest making it fun through play!

For good reason… kids like fun. Adults like fun. And research shows play has an important role in building fine motor skills³. And the good news is, with a few supplies and some imagination, there are soooo many fun and interesting activities that your child can do outside to improve their ability to use their hands and fingers. 

1. Easy-Peasy Chalk Painting 

Got some extra chalk lying around? Then amp up the novelty of your chalk by turning it into paint. 

We love this activity because of ALL the skills it works on. Your child will work on important skills both in creating the chalk paint and in using it! Plus, kids LOVE it!

Creating and using chalk paint helps with:

• Hand-eye coordination

• Finger dexterity

• Visual motor-integration

• Hand strength

• Sequencing

• Grasp patterns

• Tactile processing

  
  

Here is what you need:

• Chalk

• Water

• Spray bottle

• Small hammer (or rock for pounding)

• Paintbrush (optional)

Instructions

1. Take small pieces of chalk.

2. Hammer chalk pieces into dust.

3. Mix chalk dust with a lil’ water from your spray bottle.

4. Paint!

That’s it! That’s why it’s called easy-peasy. 

Since your outside and chalk paint is washable, watch your child get creative with what they paint. Could be rocks, a driveway, or trees. It’s a perfect rainy-day activity too! 

2. Draw and Erase Monsters for Hand Strengthening and Coordination

For this activity, your child gets to create their own “monsters” using chalk. Then you can use a spray bottle to spray the monsters all away!!!

Spray bottles are magical tools with many benefits:

• Hand strength

• Visual motor skills to hit a target

• Practicing a motion that’s important for scissor skill development (squeezing/closing)

The funny monster theme makes this one a HIT with the kids while offering an opportunity to practice fine motor skills, hand strength, endurance, creativity, and play.

What you need: 

• Chalk

• Spray Bottle

• Water

Instructions

1. Have your child draw whatever kind of monster they want. 

2. Use the water-filled spray bottle to “erase” the monster.

3. Engaging story-telling and fun monster sounds are optional but highly encouraged. 👹

You can use chalk on the sidewalk, on logs, and on the trees. The possibilities are endless! 

3. Make Pool Noodle Polly and Give Her a Haircut 

To the salon 💇! It’s time for Polly the Pool Noodle to get her hair trimmed.

Here’s another fun activity to work on snipping skills and to practice using both hands to cut.

What you need:

• Piece of pool noodle

• Scissors

• Permanent marker

• Plants of any kind 

Before you begin, an adult needs to prep the Polly the Noodle. 

1. Cut the pool noodle down to about a 4-6 inch piece.

2. Draw on a face with a permanent marker (make it as simple or complex as you want).

Instructions

1. As you’re hiking with your kiddo, cut and collect plants, flowers or simply pieces of grass!

2. Poke the plant stems into the top of the pool noodle for hair.

3. After filling the head of hair, use scissors to give Polly‘s crazy hair a snip!

The best part about using a pool noodle?

It is SO easy to repeat this game by just sticking more stems in!

4. Flower or Leaf Pull-Through Artwork

Does your child love crafts? Here’s an easy, low-cost, and fun nature craft that works on a bunch of fine motor skills. This craft is an opportunity to practice: 

• Following directions

• Hand strengthening

• Hand-eye coordination

• Thumb opposition 

• Scissor use

 Here’s what you need: 

• Cardboard

• Marker

• Golf tee (or nail)

• Hammer

• Tape

• Flowers/leaves with stems

Instructions

1. Draw a simple shape on the cardboard like a circle, tree, or heart. 

2. Use the hammer and golf tee to punch holes approximately 1 inch apart along the lines of the shape. Lay the cardboard flat on the ground for safety when pounding in the holes.

 *Note: if this part is too hard for your kiddo, you can be the one to create the holes. 

3. 

   Push the flower stems through the holes.

4. Secure the stems at the back with tape to hold the leaves/flowers in place. Most kids need a little support with this step, so feel free to scaffold for success!

   
   

6. Done! Enjoy your nature artwork from the front.

   
   

Bonus Tip

This is a fun way to get them engaged in practicing snipping and opening and closing the scissors!

✂️ To add on scissor skills, have your kids go on a flower hunt where they use scissors to snip & collect flowers. 

5. Hammer Fun! 

Keeping things simple is the name of the game for this activity using a hammer, egg carton, and golf tees. 

You might not know this, but hammering is a fun and exhilarating workout for the hands and body. And when you take this activity outdoors, you don’t have to worry as much about the noise, potential dents, or mess of hammering activities. 

This simple egg carton hammering activity works on:

• Proprioceptive input

• Grasp

• Endurance

• Hand-eye coordination

• Safety awareness

What you need: 

• Small hammer or wooden mallet

• Empty Egg carton

• Golf tees

Instructions

• Remove the top half of the egg carton and lay the bottom half on the ground upside down.

• Use the mallet to pound a nail into each egg holder.

If you don’t have an egg carton, find another safe way to hammer golf tees outside. This could be into pumpkins, the dirt, or a piece of cardboard. Overall, kids love swinging a hammer no matter what they’re pounding into. 

6. Excavate Rocks For Fine Motor Skills & More

Does your child love rocks and/or treasure hunts? Then this is the perfect activity for the next time you go outside. The mission here is super simple — free up buried rocks!  

This activity works on:

• Proprioception/heavy work

• Fine motor skills

• Force gradation

• Bilateral coordination of both hands

• Persistence + problem-solving

What you need:

• A rocky patch

• Hammer + nails (or golf tees)

• Backpack to carry excavated findings (optional)

Instructions

1. After providing materials, introduce that the game is to free rocks out of the earth. 

2. Allow your child to explore and see what strategies they try to get out the rocks they want.

Bonus Tip

Before you start, tuck this note in your mind as the parent. Part of the activity is emotional regulation. Some rocks will be too big to get out — that might be frustrating to your child! Or your child might be disappointed that a rock is smaller than what they may have been hoping for.

Supporting your child through experiencing uncomfortable emotions is part of the game and so important. 

Enjoy Your Outdoor Fine Motor Activities! 

As you can see, fine motor skill development doesn’t require tons of supplies or complicated activities. Make it fun. Use what’s outside. Do it together and unlock fun skill development.

For best success, for each activity: 

• Follow your child’s lead — your child knows what feels right or interesting to them. 

• Give your child a chance to try & fail without jumping in too quickly. 

• Commit to being mentally present to support and connect with your child. 

• Try different variations based on your child’s interests or skill level.

And the ideas we provided here are just the beginning. There are endless ways to use the same ideas and supplies in new ways. 

Join us on Instagram or Facebook for more outdoor activity ideas to support your child’s motor, emotional, and social development. 

Bearfoot OT offers nature-based pediatric occupational therapy in the Bay Area. Visit our website to get more information about our individual and group services.

References

1. Burnett, R., Cornett, N., Rekart, G., Donahoe-Fillmore, B., Brahler, C. J., Aebker, S., & Kreill, M. (2011). Investigating the Associations between Core Strength, Postural Control and Fine Motor Performance in Children. Journal of Student Physical Therapy Research, 4(2). https://ecommons.udayton.edu/dpt_fac_pub/46/

2. Critz, C., Blake, K., & Nogueira, E. (2015). Sensory processing challenges in children. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 11(7), 710-716. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1555415515004481?casa_token=Z2osXlDwANUAAAAA:uSwDCvuBA2Yh40U2Fbi8Xf4Dw8iw-ARvUMwUD0wcqYAsxR-6jODd7cDWH0hOSPidNSnVWawJVA

3. Dadkhah, M. F. A., Farahbod, M., & No15, B. A. (2004). The impact of educational play on fine motor skills of children. Middle East Journal of Family Medicine, 6(6), 1-10. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Asghar-Dadkhah/publication/254429422_THE_IMPACT_OF_EDUCATIONAL_PLAY_ON_FINE_MOTOR_SKILLS_OF_CHILDREN/links/0046352000f44094b3000000/THE-IMPACT-OF-EDUCATIONAL-PLAY-ON-FINE-MOTOR-SKILLS-OF-CHILDREN.pdf

4. Caramia, S., Gill, A., Ohl, A., & Schelly, D. (2020). Fine Motor Activities in Elementary School Children: A Replication Study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74(2), 7402345010p1-7402345010p7.s.